PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Davis Love III was practicing ahead of the 2021 RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort in St. Simons Island, Georgia, when his phone buzzed with a message from fellow PGA Tour pro Jonathan Byrd to come join him at the seventh tee.
Byrd, a five-time Tour winner and 2002 Rookie of the Year, was playing with his son, Jackson, who recently turned 16 and stepped up and smoked a drive 50 yards past Love at the par 5.
“We were waiting for the group to clear the green so I gunned it and he had 214 yards left,” said Love, who was freakishly long in his day and can still send it. “I got out a 4-iron to hit one from there. He lifted this high-arching iron on the green and I asked him, ‘What club did you hit?’ He said, ‘7-iron, but it’s downwind.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s downwind for me too.’ ”
Love laughed. “We’re high on him,” he said. “Jackson’s the real deal.”
Move over Bill Haas and slow down Charlie Woods, who is 13. The next son of a PGA Tour winner to make the big time could be Jackson Byrd, who won the AJGA’s Matthew NeSmith Junior Championship in August in his first AJGA start.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Jackson, who shot three consecutive rounds of 1-under 70 en route to the win and earned a spot in the Junior Players Championship last week, where he finished T-55.
As the son of a Tour pro and growing up around the game, Jackson had clubs from a very young age, but started taking golf seriously and playing tournaments at age 8. About three years ago, he finally beat his dad, who he regularly outdrives, at Frederica Golf Club.
“I knew that day would come but it came a lot faster than I hoped it would,” the elder Byrd said. “He’s a better driver of the golf ball than me, hits it farther and at times a better iron player. He’s got all the tools. But there’s a lot of talented players out there and it’s tough to make it. He’s watched me and seen the good, the bad and the ugly of professional golf. That experience of growing up around Tour pros (such as Zach Johnson and Keith Mitchell) has got to count for something.”
Father-son tandems in golf date all the way back to Old and Young Tom Morris. Of more recent vintage, Bill Haas, son of Jay, has notched six Tour titles, including the FedEx Cup; Kevin Stadler, son of Masters winner Craig, claimed the 2014 WM Phoenix Open; and Kevin Tway, son of PGA Championship winner Bob, hoisted the Safeway Open trophy in 2018. But good genes never helped Gary Nicklaus, son of 18-time major winner Jack, to the winner’s circle.
Jackson competed this summer in the Western Junior Championship and had his dear old Dad on the bag. How did that go?
“It was stressful,” Jonathan said. “It was also probably the highlight of my summer. We were 7 under with two holes to play in the first round until I made a caddie mistake and he drove into a fairway bunker and made double (bogey). He was tied for the lead after two rounds (67-70) and played in the last group (before finishing T-16)…It’s hard being a junior golf dad, it’s hard watching from the cart path and living and dying on every shot. But it’s also the greatest joy of my life watching my kids do anything well. I love seeing them have a passion and going out there and pursuing a worthy goal.”
Jonathan, 44, was a three-time All-American at Clemson, where his brother, Jordan, (Jackson’s uncle) became the head men’s golf coach in July 2021. It’s early but Jackson could well shape up as one of the most coveted recruits in the Class of 2025 and already has plenty of coaches keeping tabs on the next ‘J Byrd.”
Jackson aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps and play on Tour and win. “Hopefully as much if not more than he did,” Jackson said. “I know a lot about being on Tour and what it takes to get there.”
